


Marginal Attraction

by Nelly-Belly (Nelleri)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Day 1: Pining, Ereri Week, M/M, another god damn college AU, levi and his unique sense of humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-04-02 09:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4055317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nelleri/pseuds/Nelly-Belly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ereri Week--Day 1: Pining</p>
<p>It's always fun to see what kind of notes the person before you left in your used textbook... Eren finds him self a little more than amused.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marginal Attraction

**Author's Note:**

> So... this might be a bit of a stretch for the "pining" prompt... but I managed to crank this out over the past couple days so I'm rolling with it.

Of fucking course the one book Eren actually intended on buying would be the most expensive. Who the hell decided the prices of college text books anyways? Don’t they understand that students are typically _broke as fuck?_

Sighing, Eren walked further down the aisle of English text books to the “Used” section. Buying a used book was always a bit of a game of chance. One year he had the misfortune to get a book whose previous owner had some sort of fascination with drawing male genitalia on nearly every page.

He’d ended up never bringing the book to class with him. The professor always gave him a dirty look for not being prepared, but that was far preferable over the kind of looks he’d get if anyone were to have caught a glimpse inside his textbook.

With that horrible semester in mind, Eren picked up the book he needed for his class and flipped through. Whoever had it before had taken decent enough care of it; no dog-eared pages, no dried spill stains, no pages torn or missing. They had taken notes in the margins, but Eren didn’t mind that. At least their handwriting looked neat and legible. Who knows? Maybe their notes would help him in the end.

Satisfied, Eren shut the book and made his way to the checkout counter of the book store. He figured for his other classes he would just try to find PDF’s or something. He was an English major, and the rest of the classes he was taking were for general education. Like hell he was going to drop over a hundred dollars on some math book he would never touch again.

The perky blonde behind the register rang him up; a whopping 45 dollars for a _used book_. Grumbling, he pulled his debit card out of his pocket and swiped it. The girl behind the counter must have read his mood because she said, “It’s pretty ridiculous; the prices, right?”

Eren nodded as he punched in his PIN.

“Yeah, it’s why I’ve got this job,” the girl chuckled. “At least at the end of the quarter if you come in on the buy-back day you can get something back? Just make sure to keep the book in good condition and you can get 50% of the price back.”

“Yeah, I’ll have to do that. Thanks,” Eren said as he grabbed his now bagged book and pocketed the receipt.

 

A week later and classes had started. His English teacher had assigned them to read _Beowulf_ over the weekend, which Eren had read already back in high school. He thought it would be a mundane experience; rereading a musty classic he already knows. He hadn’t expected to be cackling over the old, Anglo Saxon tale.

The notes from the previous book owner were _hilarious._ They were sarcastic, they were crass, they were everything you wouldn’t expect from a university level English major. When Eren got to the part of the story when Beowulf is about to fight the dragon and is abandoned by his cowardly followers, the note in the margin read: “ _Pussy-foot thanes break heroic code to go shit themselves.”_

Armin, his roommate and classmate, finally had enough of listening to Eren’s stifled laughter and decided to ask, “What on earth is so funny about _Beowulf?_ ”

Wiping at his teary eyes, Eren hands Armin the book and points at the note in the margin. “I don’t know who this person was but _oh my god_ , Armin. There’s notes like that on almost every page.”

Armin chuckled and handed the book back. “I wish the person who had my book was like that. I can’t even _read_ their hand writing.”

 

The weeks passed by and Eren found he was actually looking forward to doing his assigned reading. Middle age and Renaissance compositions were far from his favorite branch of literature, but the mystery writer in the margins was more than entertaining enough to make up for it.

In class one day, they were going over a series of poems they had been assigned to read over the weekend. After finishing up with Ben Johnson, the professor announced there were some John Donne poems she wanted them to go over.

“I know it wasn’t a part of your assigned reading, but I’d like to go over a few of Donne’s poems. Flip to page 1373 and let’s take a look at his poem, _“The flea.”_

The fluttery noise of everyone turning the pages of their books filled the room. It was just quieting down when Eren finally managed to find the right page, and immediately his eyes were drawn to the margins. There, was that familiar scrawl he’d come to anticipate:

_“Metaphysical conceit: ‘both of our blood is mixed inside the flea. So what’s the diff? We should prob just fuck’.”_

Eren tried and failed to swallow his giggles. He didn’t have the context since he hadn’t read the poem yet, but it just sounded so ridiculous he couldn’t help the snorting laugh that managed to escape him. He glanced up at the professor, who was staring down at him with a raised brow.

“Ah sorry,” Eren excused himself, “There’s just… the person who had this book before me left some pretty funny notes behind…”

The professor’s eyes lightened with understanding. “Oh, that so?” She beckoned with her finger, silently asking Eren to bring his book up. She glanced down at the page and a huge grin took over her face.

“Lucky you! You got Levi’s old book, it seems.”

“Levi?” Eren asked.

The professor nodded, gazing fondly as she flipped through a few pages. “I had him in a few undergrad classes. Believe it or not, he’s actually an incredible writer.”

 

_Levi._

Now there was a name to the notes. A figure whose handwriting they belonged to. Before, Eren had just enjoyed the comedic commentary as just that; commentary. It hadn’t really crossed his mind to think about the person who had written them.

Whoever he was, Levi had to have been an interesting character to be around. He had never failed to make Eren laugh with any of the readings. Eren wondered if they would get along… Then he began to wonder what Levi looked like.

His handwriting was incredibly neat, but minimalistic; no swooping, unnecessary curves. Blunt, just like his sense of humor. He also wrote lightly, so the indentations couldn’t be seen on the next page at all. Eren wondered if maybe Levi had small, delicate hands…

His interest in the person behind the notes grew as the days went by. He found himself reading through the margins of poems and narratives that he hadn’t even been assigned. Most of them he didn’t understand, because he had no context; but he felt as if he were listening into Levi’s thoughts. Listening to a one-sided conversation that was never intended for someone else.

One evening, Armin walked behind Eren and glanced at the page Eren was reading. “Wait… I don’t remember being assigned to read that?” Eren could hear the panicky tone to the blonde’s voice.

“No, no. We weren’t. I’m just… reading the margins.”

Behind him, Eren heard a snort. He turned around to see Armin grinning stupidly at him.

“What…”

“Oh, nothing…” Armin lilted, “I just wasn’t aware you could pine after someone you’ve never even seen or talked to.”

Eren rolled his eyes and turned back to face his book, ignoring the small amount of heat he could feel rising to his ears. “Oh, please,” he admonished, “The notes are just funny, that’s all.”

“I wonder if that guy had any idea he was actually writing little love notes in his book…” Armin said in a faux-thoughtful voice.

Eren scoffed. But to himself, he couldn’t deny he was really intrigued. It was so strange; he knew nothing other than what Levi thought about these various pieces of literature, but he so desperately clung to the words etched into each page. He adored the humor in the notes, but he felt a burning want to get to know this person. To actually get to _meet_ him.

Each day as he walked through the halls of the English building, Eren would carefully watch the people around him. He had absolutely no idea what Levi could possibly look like, but he imagined that if he saw him or heard his voice; he would know. It was ridiculous, he knew that it was. But still the thought would enter his mind over and over; _could that be him?_

Eventually the semester came to end; Eren passed his classes (though just barely in math). The book store’s buy-back day approached, and Eren was actually unsure if he wanted to sell his English book. Sure, he’d probably get around 20 bucks out of it, but he’d lose the only connection he had to Levi.

He shook his head, knowing how insane that sounded. What kind of connection could he possibly have to a person that didn’t even know he existed? A person he’d never even met? Decisively, Eren grabbed the book off his desk and headed to the book store.

The line was long, as expected. Who wouldn’t want to get _some_ of their money back? As Eren waited, he thumbed through the pages for the final time. He was smiling down at the first note he had ever read from Levi, the one in _Beowulf_.

“ _Oi!_ Next!”

Eren’s head snapped up at the stern voice and he stumbled forward, placing the book on the counter. The man behind the counter looked exhausted, and who could blame him? The book store had undoubtedly been in a state of chaos all day.

The man flipped open the book to check the quality before he gave Eren a price, but his hand paused on the page. Eren’s eyes danced between the book and the cashier, hoping that there was nothing wrong with the book that would lower the value. All he saw on the page were the notes in the margins, which was typical of a used book.

The cashier hummed quietly, and Eren looked up to see a smirk on the man’s face. He was instantly reminded of how his professor had reacted similarly to seeing the notes and thought that maybe this man also knew Levi. His heart leapt a little at the thought.

“This was my book a couple years ago…” the man said, and Eren was pretty sure the entire rest of the noisy book store had miraculously vanished, because all he could hear in that moment was his own rapid heartbeat.

“Y-you’re Levi?” Eren stuttered.

The man looked up and quirked a brow. “How do you know my name?”

Eren could feel his ears and cheeks burning, but he responded meekly, “Oh, uhm. My professor… Dr. Cloose… She saw the notes and said she’d had you as a student.”

Levi nodded as he scanned the book and punched some buttons on the register. “Mm, she’s a good professor. Anyway, I can give you the average 50% since there’s no visible damage to the book. Your total return price is $22.50.”

Eren could feel the moment slipping through his fingers and he quickly grabbed the book from the counter. “No, actually… I think I want to keep it.”

Levi furrowed his brow as he looked at Eren incredulously. “You stood in line, for fuck knows how long, to just keep it in the end?”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Eren maintained eye-contact. “Yeah… I um… I really enjoyed your notes.”

Levi breathed a laugh through his nose. “Huh, really?”

“Yeah!” Eren said, just a bit too loudly. “Dr. Cloose told me you were a really good writer, and your notes made me laugh… and… I read through all of them… and uh,” Eren was rambling; he knew he was and he snapped his mouth shut to stop the flow of words.

Levi’s eyes were widened slightly, and Eren figured he’d just ruined any chance he had of getting more familiar with him.

“Wow,” Levi said after a moment. “You know I’m actually kind of flattered,” his eyes lidded just faintly as he leaned forward.

“Y-yeah?”

A smirk. “Yeah… You’re acting like I’m some kind of celebrity.”

Eren gripped the book closer to his chest, unsure of what to say. Luckily, Levi filled the gap.

“Listen, my shift ends in about an hour. Why don’t you drop by then and we can go somewhere, talk about rhetorical devices or whatever the hell gets you off?”

Eren burst into giggles. There it was; that same humor he’d spent the past semester swooning over. Levi grinned as he watched Eren try to stop laughing, clearly proud of himself.

“O-okay…” Eren managed between dying giggles.

As he walked out of the bookstore, his prized textbook clutched tight to his chest, Eren couldn’t help the huge grin that claimed his face. Who would have thought he’d find a love interest in the margins of a textbook?

**Author's Note:**

> I _might_ continue this at some point? I've never written a fic that didn't have sex in it so... I can't help but feel this is unfinished lol. But I gotta work on part 2 of Caerme first ^~^'
> 
> [tumblr](http://nelleri.tumblr.com/)


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